Southern Utah will be hoping to shake off the first-meet jitters it suffered last week at Oklahoma when the Thunderbirds travel to face No. 3 Utah on Friday night. The team then turns around and returns home to host Denver Monday night. Both meets are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. (MT). SUU is coming off a disappointing loss at Oklahoma where the Thunderbirds scored 190.050, the team?™s lowest openingmeet score in six years. The Utes (3-0) are coming off a 195.750-193.000 win over Nebraska in their first home meet of the season. Utah opened the season with road wins at UCLA, 194.875-193.850, and Washington, 195.625-193.325.
Click Here for a PDF of the Week Three Gymnastics Notes
XBOX LIVE GYMNAST OF THE WEEK ?“ Utah State?™s Katie Omann has been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Week for the week of Jan. 23. This is the Aggies?™ second WAC Gymnast of the Week honor.
Omann, a sophomore from Sartell, Minn., won the all-around on Jan. 20, as the Aggies fell by .01 to the BYU Cougars. She won with a score of 38.850 after finishing second on the vault (9.750) and bars (9.775) fourth on the floor (9.700) and sixth on the beam with a personal-best 9.625.
Other nominees included: Trista Condren of Sacramento State won her second floor competition with a season-best 9.850 and she added a 9.500 on beam to finish seventh … Michelle Minotti of San Jose State finished second in the all-around with a season-high 38.150. She also had a season-high 9.700 on bars.
GYMNASTICS RETURNS TO THE WAC - The Western Athletic Conference welcomes back gymnastics for the 2006 season. The last season the WAC had gymnastics was 1993. The last WAC Championship was held at Boise Pavillion on March 20, 1993. Utah captured that title. Southern Utah and Boise State are the only team?™s from that championship competing in the current WAC.
2006 WAC GYMNASTICS MEET ?“ The first WAC Gymnastics Championship since 1993 will be help in Logan, Utah on the campus of Utah State. The meet will rotate schools every year. This year?™s meet will be held March 25.
REGIONAL AND NATIONALS ?“ The west coast will be the site NCAA Championship this season as Oregon State and Gill Coliseum will host the 2005 NCAA Championship on April 20-22, 2006. The WAC will compete in the West Regional on April 8 in Stanford, Calif.
West Regional - April 8, 2006
Maples Pavilion
Stanford, Calif.
Host: Stanford University
Ticket Info: 800/STANFORDs
NCAA Championships - April 20-22, 2006s
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Host: Oregon State University
Ticket Info: 800/GOBEAVSs
Boise State Broncos (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State travels to UC Davis to compete in a dual match as party of UC Davis?™ Beauty and the Beast event, Friday, Jan. 27 in which the UC Davis wrestlers will be competing as well ... the Broncos are ranked 37th nationally this week with a team score average of 190.137 ... Boise State?™s leaders so far include senior Katie Dinsmore (season high of 9.875 on vault and 9.65 on beam) and junior Lindsay Ward (season high 9.8 on bars and 9.85 on beam).
Cal State Fullerton Titans (2-3, 1-2 WAC)
Last week?™s meet at Sacramento State was the first in whichthe Titans did not have an all-arounder ... the Cal State Fullerton women?™s gymnastics team posted its best score of the young season, a 191.375, to finish second at Sacramento State ... the Titans next meet is against WAC-foe San Jose State on Jan. 27 in San Jose.
Sacramento State Hornets (4-7, 2-0 WAC)
Sophomores Alexis Tsurumoto and Melissa Genovsese and senior Trista Condren each won individual titles to help lead Sacramento State tos a first-place finish against Cal State Fullerton and Alaska Anchorage ... the Hornets scored a season-best 192.425 and finished over a point ahead of the Titans (191.375) ... the Seawolves were third with 189.825.
San Jose State Spartans (4-5, 2-1 WAC)
Sophomore Michelle Minotti scored a 38.150 to finish second in the all-around and the San Jose State women?™s gymnastics team scored a 190.300 to finish third in a non-conference meet at Texas-Woman?™ss ... New Hampshire won the meet with a 194.400 ... Minotti scored her season high in the all-around with the 38.150 ... she led the team on the bars with a season-high 9.700 and added a 9.625 on the vault.
Southern Utah Thunderbirdss (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
SUU struggled in its first meet of 2006, posting a 190.050 at Oklahoma ... it was the lowest opening-meet score for the Thunderbirds since a 189.250 in 2000 at Denver ... Leah Sakhitab paced the Thunderbirds on two events (bars at 9.725 and co-led along with Rachel Tanner on beam at 9.775) as well as finishing first among Thunderbirdss ... Sheena Shaw paced the team on vault (9.550) and Jess Langley had the team?™s highest floor score (9.725).
Utah State Aggies (2-5, 0-2 WAC)
Utah State?™s gymnastics team scored a season-high 193.275 in its meet against BYU and is ranked 32nd in the nation according to its season average of 191.358 ... Katie Omanns moved into a tie for 24th in the all-around with her 38.912 average ... against, BYU, Omann, claimed the all-around title with a 38.750 score ... she was second on the vault and on the bars in the dual meet.